Memory

Question 1

Short term memory - capacity ?

Answer 1

5-9 items

Question 2

Evidence backing up short term memory capacity?

Answer 2

Miller meta analysis of serial recall tests of digit span, participants asked to recall string of digits/ letters and couldn’t remember after 9, found chunking could increase capacity.

Question 3

Short term memory - duration ?

Answer 3

18 - 30 seconds

Question 4

Short term memory - coding?

Answer 4

Acoustic

Question 5

Long term memory - capacity ?

Answer 5

Potentially infinite

Question 6

Long term memory - duration ?

Answer 6

Lifetime, however the is some decay

Question 7

Long term memory - coding ?

Answer 7

Semantic

Question 8

Baddeley ?

Answer 8

some participants a list of acoustically-similar words and tested them immediately. Others were tested after a 20- minute delay. More errors were made when tested immediately. This was due to confusion.
Some participants were asked to recall semanticaly-similar words immediately, some after a delay. More confusion after a delay.
Confusion is caused because participants are only focusing on sound in STM and meaning in LTM.

Question 9

What are the two theory’s for memory?

Answer 9

Multi store model of memory
And the working memory model

Question 10

Who came up with the multi store model of memory ?

Answer 10

Richard Atkinson and Richard shiffrin

Question 11

What does the multi store model consist of ?

Answer 11

It consists of three memory stores linked to each other by the processes that enable transfer of information from one store to the next

Question 12

Multi store model - what Are the three stores ?

Answer 12

. Sensory memory
. Short term memory
. Long term memory

Question 13

MSM - what is the sensory memory/register?

Answer 13

The sensory register/ memory is triggered by an environmental stimulus, it is the place where information is held at each of the senses e.g eyes ears tongue fingers. And the corresponding areas of the brain. The capacity of these registers are very large, they are constantly receiving information however most receives no attention so it is registered for a very brief duration like a millisecond

Question 14

MSM - what is attention?

Answer 14

If a persons attention is focused on one of the sensory stores to long the data is then transferred to the stm, attention is the first step in remembering something

Question 15

MSM - what is the short term memory ?

Answer 15

Short term memory has a very limited duration, information is held in stm so can be used for immediate tasks such as working on maths problem or remembering directions to a friend’s house, the stm is in a fragile state and information will decay very quickly if it isn’t rehearsed, this practice of rehearsing it is called maintenance rehearsal, stm has. Very limited capacity so important information needs to be moved to the Lomg term memory

Question 16

MSM - what is maintenance rehearsal?

Answer 16

Repetition keep’s information in the stm but eventually such repetition will create a long term memory Atkinson and shiffrin proposed a direct relationship beetween rehearsal in STM and the strength of the LTM the more the information is rehearsed the better it is remembered this is called maintenance rehearsal

Question 17

MSM - long term memory?

Answer 17

Long term memory is potentially unlimited in duration and capacity, and once information is there it can’t really be forgotten , but in order for it to always be remembered on demand something called rehearsal is nessacry

Question 18

MSM - what is retrieval ?

Answer 18

The process of getting information from the long term memory involves the information passing back though the short term memory then it will be available for use

Question 19

Multi store model - strengths +

Answer 19

+ the is evidence for separate stores
+ influential in developing memory research, leading to improved models such as WMM

Question 20

MSM - evidence FOR separate stores ?

Answer 20

• Evidence from capacity, duration and coding to
support existence of separate stores (Miller,
Peterson & Peterson, Bahrick, Baddeley etc.)
• Clive Wearing could make new STMs but not
new LTMs
• Glanzer & Cunitz – people recall words at the
start and end of lists. Start because they are rehearsed to LTM, end because they are still in STM.

Question 21

Multi store model - weaknesses

Answer 21

• evidence for more stores
• • Reductionist as it seems to suggest that human memory consists of only three individual stores. Human memory is more complex.

Question 22

MSM - evidence for more stores ?

Answer 22

• Patient KF damaged his verbal STM capacity
but not his visual STM
• Patient HM could make new procedural LTM
but not explicit or semantic LTM

Question 23

Who came up the the working memory model ?

Answer 23

Alan baddley and hitch 1974

Question 24

Reasons for making the working memory model?

Answer 24

. Baddley and hitch felt that the STM was not just one store but a number of different stores.

Question 25

What does the wmw consist of ?

Answer 25

Central executive
Episodic buffer
Phonological loop (includes articulatory loop and phonological store
Visuospatial sketchpad (includes inner scribe and visual cache)
Long term memory

Question 26

What is the central executive?

Answer 26

In the working memory model the central executive Receives environmental stimuli and passes it to the appropriate store, it moters and coordinates all other metal functions

Question 27

What is the episodic buffer ?

Answer 27

Added later. General store and helps to make sense and combine info, recives imput from many sources then intergrates it to construct a metal episode of what is being experienced

Question 28

Visosspatial sketchpad

Answer 28

Processes visual and spatial information. Holds an image in our mind and the layout of the room.

Question 29

Visual cache ?

Answer 29

Part of e the visuospatical sketch pad ,store’s information about visual items e.g like colour

Question 30

Inner scribe ?

Answer 30

Part of the visiospaical sketchpad - an inner scribe stores the arrangement of objects in a visual Field , so remembering what a room looks like

Question 31

Phonological loop

Answer 31

Processes sound information. Repeats it several times and sends it on.

Question 32

Phonological store ?

Answer 32

Part of the phonological loop - it holds the words you hear kind of like an inner ear

Question 33

articulatory loop?

Answer 33

Part of the phonological loop - used for word that are heard or see these words are silently repeated or looped like an inner voice this is a form of manitance rehearsal

Question 34

Wmw - long term memory?

Answer 34

Same as it is the multi store model it’s an infinite store, for a lifetime

Question 35

Evaluation of working memory model- pros ?

Answer 35

+ evidence for separate stores supports the wmw
+ Includes active processing unlike passive MSM Acknowledges that memory works actively, rather than acting only as a store – e.g. schema

Question 36

Evidence for separate stores - wmw ?

Answer 36

• Evidence from capacity, duration and coding to
support existence of separate stores (Miller,
Peterson & Peterson, Bahrick, Baddeley etc.)
• Clive Wearing could make new STMs but not
new LTMs
• Glanzer & Cunitz – people recall words at the
start and end of lists. Start because they are rehearsed to LTM, end because they are still in STM.

Question 37

Evaluation of working memory model- cons ?

Answer 37

• Reductionist as it seems to suggest that human memory consists of only five individual stores. Human memory is more complex.
• Evidence for more stores

Question 38

Working memory model- it’s wrong become the is evidence for more stores what is thus evidence?

Answer 38

• Patient HM could make new procedural LTM
but not explicit or semantic LTM

Question 39

What are the three types of long term memory?

Answer 39

Episodic
Semantic
Procedural

Question 40

LTM - what is episodic memory ?

Answer 40

Personal memory’s of events from your life this kind of memory includes contextual details plus an emotional tone

Question 41

LTM - what is procedural memory ?

Answer 41

Procedural memory is the memory of how to do things for example driving or riding a bike procedural memory. Such memory’s are automatic as a result of repeated practice.

Question 42

LTM - what is semantic memory ?

Answer 42

Memory of the meaning of things as well as facts and knowledge this memories may be concrete e.g knowing the capital city’s of country’s or that ice is made of water or they might be abstract such as mathematical memories.

Question 43

LTM- Why are episodic and semantic memories known as explicit ?

Answer 43

Because we usually have to think about them and can describe them

Question 44

LTM - why are procedural memories known as implicit ?

Answer 44

Because they are automatic we don’t need to be able to explain how to kick a football in order to kick a football well

Question 45

Evaluation LTM - what is the evidence FOR these types of memory.

Answer 45

. HM – could make new procedural LTM but not episodic or semantic, suggesting that they are separate stores
Brain scanning evidence – Episodic stored in the hippocampus and frontal lobe; Semantic also in the temporal lobe; Procedural also requires the cerebellum and motor cortex
Irish et al. showed that some Alzheimer’s patients can lack semantic but not episodic, whilst others can lack episodic but not semantic – suggesting separate stores

Question 46

Evaluation LTM - what is the evidence AGAINST these types of memory.

Answer 46

Over-reliance on brain damage patients. Just because you lose a part of your brain and also lose a specific function, it doesn’t mean this area was exclusively used for that function.
Priming may be a 4th type of LTM – this is where you are ‘programmed’ to think in a certain way (for example, through advertising or violent media). Your thinking can be affected without your explicit knowledge, so this suggests there is a second type of implicit memory

Question 47

What are the two explanations for forgetting ?

Answer 47

. Interference theory
. Retrieval failure

Question 48

What is interference ?

Answer 48

It is an explanation for forgetting in terms of one memory disrupting the ability to recall another this is most likely to occur when the two memory’s have some similarity

Question 49

What is proactive interference ?

Answer 49

Past learning interferes with current attempt to learn something. When past memories affect the new ones trying to be made

Question 50

What is retroactive interference ?

Answer 50

Current attempts to learn something interfere with past learning , so the new memories being made are affecting the past memories

Question 51

Evaluation - Interference theory resherch support FOR .

Answer 51

Underwood –(supports Proactive because the early lists made it hard to recall the later ones)

Muller & Pilzecker –(supports Retroactive because the distraction task affected their ability to recall the syllables)

Question 52

Evaluation - Interference theory AGAINST .

Answer 52

Resherch is artificial
Memories are not nessaarly lost
And the are many individual differences
Kane & Engle (2000) found that participants with better working memory spans were less influenced by Proactive

Question 53

Explanations for forgetting - what is retrieval failure ?

Answer 53

Occurs in the absence of cues an explanation for forgetting based on the idea that the issues relates to not being able to retrieve a memory that is available but not accessible we need cues to help us access memory’s.

Question 54

What are cues ?

Answer 54

This are things that serve as a reminder, they may meaningfully link to the material to be remembered or may not be meaningfully linked.

Question 55

What is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 55

information present at learning should be present at recall to aid memory, however doesn’t have to be exactly right but the closer the cue is to the original item more usful it will be

Question 56

What is context dependent forgetting ?

Answer 56

where we are can act as a cue. If you learn something in one place, we are more likely to forget if we try to recall it in another place.

Question 57

What is state dependent forgetting ?

Answer 57

where we are can act as a cue. If you learn something in one place, we are more likely to forget if we try to recall it in another place.

Question 58

Evaluation- Explanations for forgetting retrieval failure FOR ?

Answer 58

Research support
Godden & Baddeley – participants learnt word lists on land or underwater (scuba). They were then tested either on land or underwater. Their recall was worse if tested in a different place to where they learnt the words, supporting Context- dependent forgetting.

Goodwin – participants learnt word lists whilst sober or drunk. They were then tested either when sober or drunk. Their recall was worse if in a different state than at learning, supporting State-dependent forgetting.

Question 59

Evaluation- Explanations for forgetting retrieval failure AGAINST ?

Answer 59

Retrieval cues don’t always work – and even if recall is improved, we cannot be certain it was caused by the cue Because there are so many different cues always present, For example, the room you are in or your sobriety may be a cue – but there are also dozens of extra little cues when you are learning (your mood, the instructor, who you are sat next to, the weather outside, It is impossible to know which cues were coded along with the information

Question 60

What is eyewitness testimony?

Answer 60

The evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed a crime with a view to identifying the perpetrators of the crime

Question 61

What is a leading question ?

Answer 61

A question that either by its form or content suggests to the whiteness what answer is desired or leads him or her to the described questions

Question 62

What is misleading information ?

Answer 62

Supplying information that may lead a witnesses memory for a crime to be altered

Question 63

What is post event discussion?

Answer 63

A conversation between co witnesses or an interviewer and an eyewitness after a crime has taken place this many contaminant a witnesses memory of the event

Question 64

Aim of loftus and palmer ?

Answer 64

Aim – to see if a witness’ memory of an event can be influenced by leading questions

Question 65

Sample of loftus and palmer ?

Answer 65

45 students

Question 66

Method of loftus and palmer ?

Answer 66

Participants shown 7 different video clips of car crashes. Each time they were asked to estimate the car’s speed. Split into five groups, each with a slightly different critical question: ‘How fast were the cars going when they …. ( insert verb) each other?’

Question 67

What where the 5 verbs loftus and palmer used ?

Answer 67

1. Hit
2. Bumped
3. Collided
4. Contacted
5. Smashed

Question 68

Findings of loftus and palmer ?

Answer 68

Smashed = 41 mph speed estimate
Collided = 39 mph speed estimate
Bumped = 38 mph speed estimate
Hit = 34 mph speed estimate
Contacted = 32 mph speed estimate

Question 69

Conclusion of loftus and palmer ?

Answer 69

witness’ memory can be influenced by leading questions as with a verb like smashed the average speed estimate was 41 mph and and contacted it was only 32 mph speed estimate

Question 70

Evaluation of loftus and palmer - pros +

Answer 70

+ Lab study so high in reliability and control
+ Clear demonstration of cause and effect between leading questions and memory change

Question 71

Evaluation of loftus and palmer - cons -

Answer 71

• Lacks ecological validity – Yuille & Cutshall
  found leading questions had no effect on
  witnesses to a real armed robbery
• Results could be caused by ‘response bias’ –
  they don’t remember the speed but ‘smashed’ was a clue that it was fast

Question 72

What does anxiety have to do with the accuracy of an eyewitness testimony ?

Answer 72

Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state that is often accompanied with increased heart rate and stress when a person experiences a crime they go though anxiety and stress this may have a negative effect of accuracy

Question 73

Anxiety and the negative effects of accuracy ?

Answer 73

Anxiety and stress have a negative effect on memory as well as performance generally automatic skills like memory are not effected stress however performance of completed cognitive tasks is reduced

Question 74

What is the weapon focus effect ?

Answer 74

Weapon focus is the view that a weapon in a criminals hand distracts attention because of the anxiety it creates therefore reduces accuracy of identification

Question 75

Key study for anxiety and eyewitness testimony?

Answer 75

Johnson and Scott 1976

Question 76

Johnson and Scott aim ?

Answer 76

To test whether or not anxiety can affect the accuracy of eye- witness testimony

Question 77

Procedure of Johnson and Scott ?

Answer 77

Johnson & Scott asked participants to sit in a waiting room before taking part in an experiment.
1) No-weapon group - overheard a conversation next door before an individual left the room carrying a pen, with his hands covered in grease.
2) Weapon group – they overheard a heated exchange next door with the sound of breaking glass and chairs crashing before an individual ran from the room carrying a knife with his hands covered in blood. Participants were then shown 50 photographs of different men, from which they were asked to pick the correct person.

Question 78

Results of Johnson and Scott ?

Answer 78

49% of no-weapon group could correctly identify him, compared to only 33% of the weapon group

Question 79

Conclusion of Johnson and Scott ?

Answer 79

Anxiety has a negative effect on eyewitness recall - perhaps only because of the weapon focuses was the weapon groups anxiety higher

Question 80

Evaluation of Johnson and Scott ?
PRO

Answer 80

+ Highly controlled and reliable – lab study so fewer extraneous variables (e.g. the actor holding the pen/knife)
+ Quantitative data – not reliant on the accuracy of their description. Instead a yes/no answer. More objective and no interpretation needed.

Question 81

Evaluation of Johnson and Scott ?
CON

Answer 81

• Lacks ecological validity – they knew that their answers would not actually lead to a conviction of a real person, unlike in a real witness case
• Contradictory evidence – Christianson & Hubinette found that witnesses to real bank robberies had better recall if they were more at risk (opposite of Johnson & Scott’s findings)

Question 82

What is a cognitive interview?

Answer 82

A police technique for interviewing witnesses to a crime which encourages them to recreate the original context of the crime in order to increase the accessibility of stored information

Question 83

What are the four steps of a cognitive interview ?

Answer 83

Mental reinstatement of context
Report everything
Change perspective
Change order

Question 84

What Mental reinstatement of context ?

Answer 84

witness is encouraged to put themselves back into the same state of mind and to think of context cues. For instance, asked if they were angry or happy before the event, in case this cues any extra recall.

Question 85

What is the report everything part of the contrive interview ?

Answer 85

witness asked to recall the entire event from start to finish, including anything they might consider insignificant

Question 86

What is the change perspective part of the contrive interview ?

Answer 86

participant is asked to recall the events from a different witness’ perspective, in order to give a three- dimensional view of the event

Question 87

What is the change order part of the contrive interview ?

Answer 87

asked to recall events in reverse order, as this helps to avoid the use of schema to assume certain events happened even when they didn’t.

Question 88

Evaluation of cognitive interview ?
Pro

Answer 88

+ Kohnken found that use of the CI improved recall accuracy by 34%
+ Kohnken found an 81% increase of correct information, and a 61% increase of incorrect information when using the CI.
This technique might increase the quantity of information givin

Question 89

Evaluation of cognitive interview ?
Con

Answer 89

. Quantity of quality
- The CI may require special training, not to
mention lots of time to carry out
- Training in the use of CI is very costly, and it is
very likely that different people will interpret the techniques in different ways

Question 90

Example of research into effect of post event discussion in the accuracy of EWT ?

Answer 90

Gabbert

Question 91

Procedure of gabbert ?

Answer 91

They were asked to watch a video of a girl walking into a university office and then each participant was shown one of two videos of the same event from different angle in the first condition the participants answered questions independently and then in the second condition was a co whiteness condition and discussed with another person both has seen video from different angle

Question 92

Findings of gabbert ?

Answer 92

In condition 2 the co witness condition 71% of participants reported seeing things they couldn’t of seen

60% said she committed a crime aka stole a £10 note when this wasn’t in their video

Question 93

Conclusion of gabbert ?

Answer 93

Post event discussion could contaminate each others recall of the event and could lead to false memory’s.